Al Randall: The Man Behind the Myth

You'll be hearing a lot of funny and nasty things about Al Randall leading up to and during MHISC's Fall Meeting in Charleston. That's because one of the highlights will be the much-anticipated Al Randall Roast. We've already lined up three cards, Ronnie Cudd, Ronnie Boyce and Clarence "Ronnie" Stickland, to be roasters and we'll be picking two others.

Of course everybody knows that people are chosen as roastees because: 1. they are good sports; 2. everybody likes them and 3. they have strong, interesting personalities.

Somebody who is very literal minded (Germans, engineers) wouldn't quite get it. At a roast, people heap abuse on someone they admire a lot.

That Sappy Moment
There's always that sappy moment at roasts when people get all sincere and talk about what a great American and true humanitarian the roastee really is.

That part of the roasts usually sucks so I'd like to get all the nice stuff about Al out of the way early:

The first time I met Al was at an MHISC Chapter meeting. Like everybody, I liked him right off the bat. He quickly got involved,becoming a chapter officer. We recognized his leadership ability and Al rose through the ranks, ultimately being elected president of the state MHISC. He did a great job, building consensus on the board and being a great ambassador to the general membership.

But two of the things I appreciate about Al Randall are less widely known. We'll joke at the roast about Al being a carouser. But did you know that Al is known as the guy who gets the people who've massively over-indulged safely back to the hotel?

And you really have to appreciate Al's willingness to do the tough jobs for the association. For example, thankless assignments such as delivering bad news. He's always been the guy you ask to tell an eager member "you aren't being nominated to the board this year, maybe next year." Or, "you didn't make the Hall of Fame this time, but your day will come."

Al always got those challening jobs because we knew he'd deliver the news with skill and empathy.

Ok: enough appreciation and sappiness. Let's get back to trashing Al Randall!